Are All Mexicans Short and Brown?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Also, why do Mexican Catholics keep ashes on their foreheads after Ash Wednesday?

DEAR MEXICAN:I often pick up theAlbuquerque Alibito read yourbabosadas. Now, let me get this straight: You appear to be a bright guy who claims to have the Mexican people all figured out, right? To you, we are all 5 feet, 6 inches tall with a medium complexion, and we all pray to Moctezuma to come save us in Aztlan? While this might describe a lot of Mexicans you know, it doesn't do justice to millions ofcastizosin Mexico and the U.S. that you seem to despise. See,mi familiawerehacenderosfrom Chihuahua before all thechaparritosfrom the south invaded our state and startedpincheselling drugs. My family and many tall, brown-, green- and blue-eyedchihuahuensesandduranguensescan trace our roots back to when Spanish families emigrated, becamehacenderos, and practiced things such as ranching, farming, mining and good ol'vaquerismo(cowboying) things, by the way,gabachosstole from our beloved states inTejasandNuevo Mejicoand claimed to be their own. I also despise historical idiots such as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata (his men hanged my great-grandfather in front of his family, only because he had the smarts to have his own business and create jobs for their communities).

I despise the fact that Mexican and Mexican-American youth (same shit to agabacho) in California and other states have to hang on to this bullshit mythical origin of Azteca. I don't recall the last Mexican I met who speakspincheNahuatl. We speak Spanish, we practicecharreadas, we celebrate Día de los Muertos, we give our little girls quinceañeras, and we are the closest thing to Old Spain this side of the pond that I'm aware of. We are an extension of Spain and its traditions. The day we stop acting like a bunch of stupidpayasoswith our screwed-up gangster mentality and start cowboying up as our true ancestry dictates and find a new appreciation for our Spanish ancestry is the day Mexicans will advance as a society. I'm sick of stupidgabachos(a lost society of their own) thinking they know what a Mexican is or isn't. We are as diverse as they come.

Viva la Raza (A Term Not of Azteca, But of Spanish Origin Reference the Black Legend)

DEAR MEXICAN:I'm achulitaMexicanacatólica, and there is something I have thought about all myvida. Why is it that Mexicans go to church on Ash Wednesday, then the next day, they show up at school or at work with the ashes still on their foreheads? Is it because they want to show off how pious they are, or is itporque no se bañan? Just a side note: When I was a kid, this man in my neighborhood had a black discoloring of his skin—a birthmark right where the ashes would go. At first, I thought he was overdoing the Ash Wednesday thing, but no: He was legit. So we nicknamed him "Ash Wednesday."

Chulita Mexicana Cátolica

DEAR CUTIE: For Lent, I say you give up bullying. For the ashes, consult Genesis 3:19.

GOOD MEXICAN OF THE WEEK! The National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies is exactly what it sounds like, and it is at the forefront of defending our universities and public schools from whitewashing Know Nothings who don't like honest histories infiltrating the American story. It's holding its annual conference next week, so I'm giving a shout-out to the association in the discipline's time of need. Learn more at www.naccs.org.

well i think the short brown Mexicans or all short brown south Americans have slavery in there family tree. The salves of south America had no value, they were expendable. they were deprived of food and literally worked till they dropped. they suffered extreme malnutrition for decades. Malnurtion = no growth hormones. Not like the slaves of the US, who were were well fed to better the profit. When Columbus arrived in Haiti, the extinct natives who probably resembled brown Mexicans were reported to be taller and stronger then the average European. so i guessing all brown mexicans are mostly short in South america....and if they migrate to the us...their children will be taller then there parents...which most are..because they are eating healthy...eating healthy is revolutionary in mexican culture...they eat like its there last time because, back at home they dont know when they will again.

I could not understand what the complianie guy was talking about since he wrote every third word in a foreign language... chihuahuenses and duranguenses? There isn't a comparable term in English so we can all enjoy this rant?

As a proud Mexican American, I found Dia De Los Muertos bizarre and Quincenaras creepy, with the exception of my Catholic faith, which surely does not originate with Spain. So Gustavo, next time this guy e-mails you, tell him the food he eats (Mexican food which is eaten and appreciated by different people of different backgounds) IS Aztec food :) Tell him our DNA IS an extension of various Ameri-Indian groups of Mexico and we are an extension of a long history. Tell him that the pronoun "Mexican" originates from the Nauhtl word Mexihca.

(If the guy loves Spain so much he should move there :)

Also, tell him Spanish is a language that borrows heavily from Arabic AND Ameri-Indian languages that are spoken in South America.

And yes Gustavo, stop stereotpying us, because we Mexicans are diverse, and we do come in different shades of colors and shapes and personalities. That's why we can be proud of our long cultural traditions and heritage.

Dear "Raza", vaquerismo actually has its roots in Argentina (los gauchos, who were hated by the Spanish upper class in Argentina BTW) and gabacho is what the Spanish called the French soldiers. And anyone who is a Spanish-speaking Mexican does speak at least some Nahuatl (aguacate(tl), tlacuache, molcajete, ejote, elote, lechuza, zacate.....the list goes on and on pendejo)

Viva La Raza; You sound like Richard Rodriguez macho man style!! Did you ever take a razor on your supposedly "guero" skin. On your mention of Dia De Los Muertos the origins are actually Pre-Cristobal Colon.. burning Copal, using the Cempoalxochitl or a variation of that name (Marigold)..My family is Mexican and my Mama and Tias never had Quinces' nor did my Abuelo or Uncles wear Charro outfitsand just to let you know Anahuac or Mesoamerica is the title of the region of Indigenous people of the so called "Americas". The Aztecs were actually Imperial powers themselves, there were Maya, Tahumara, Huichol, Zapotec, Purepecha, Tolteca, and Olmeca just to name a few people.

And according to the Black Legend the Spanish tried to purge over 1000 years of cultural interchange.. puras babozadas..

It's an oxymoron to claim Diversity and bashing all Gabachos, some gabachos are pretty firme, just like some Espanoles and Mexicans are culos...

who cares if some mexicans are short or tall? once we hear the word mexican, you know what image we have dont you?.. try jose wearing a wife beater t-shirt and drinking beer while lying drunk on the street... cant you wetbacks get together and come up with an alternate narrative. lol..

Most mexicans are short. It's just the truth. Just like most mexicans eat beans. I'm a mexican and I can account for both of these statements being facts. Think I'm wrong? Check my house. There's a pot of beans on the oven right now, and my 5'5" dad drinking tequila while watching las noticias.

I saw you on TV and thought that if I was casting for the Mexican version of 2 and a half men that you'll be perfect for the part of the guy that almost always strikes out with chiquitas! We could call you Alfonzo so that we could call your alter ego the Fonz

Letter 1: That's all you can comeback with Gustavo. Looks like you were left speechless. Sell-out? Why, when you know it's all so true. It's so funny how many proud Mexicans do not realize how much of their heritage is Spanish and European. Looks like their is a great deal of ignorance within the Mexican culture. Almost, as if one only wants to chose the parts of history which they agree with. Also, about the Zapatistas and Poncho Villa, I think history tends to romanticize and glorify people more than what they are. I am very skeptical about how history tends to chose its hero's. They always end up being something more or less than they really are. Everyone has their own agenda and it is not always going to line up with one side of the story.

You clearly know very little about Spanish culture and history, especially about the caste system they developed for the various races, generations of Mexican born Spaniards and those of mixed racial origin.

It sounds like you probably have not even been to Spain to study their culture either.

As for your grandfather providing jobs... My great grandfathers left Mexico around 1900 like many others to flee the oppressive working conditions with minimal pay from the owners of the ranchos.

By the way, I am not a Aztlanista as you characterize Gustavo's readers. My father was intelligent enough to use the G.I. Bill to better his children's lives by completing his university education and two advanced degrees. I myself have one advanced degree, and am very grateful my great grandfathers had the foresight to leave Mexico before the revolution.

Does Vendida realize that before the gabachos stole Tejas y Nueva Mejico, los Espanoles she adores raped, pillaged and stole the lands she so worships. I guess the conquest south of the border was OK because los pinche gachupines spoke castilian!Que lastima she is programmed to believe the 'caca' Cortes, his bandidos and los catolicos imposed on our parientes!!!!!!!

And yes que viva la Raza and BTY: could her revered Spain return the Maya Codices and Popol_Vol they also jambaron!

Yo soy de ascencia mejicano de raices indigenas, espanoles, morro........guess that may quality me as "Chicano"

as for the idiot whos grandfather was hanged! it served him right! not only did he steal the land, he cheated the native people, henceforth the revolution! as for ash wednesday, whats a mexican without an apodo!!!

To the person from New Mexico. You have left me all tied up in knots inside. Instead of looking to eradicate our differences so that we can become a real pueblo, you accentuate them creating further controversy. Yes, some parts of Mexico had a stronger influence than others. I am from Durango, and yes, you are right, there are some people that are taller than other, with lighter skin tones, eyes of different shapes or color. But none of those traits makes one better than the other. I am hurt to read about your hate for Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. These men fought so that the rest of the Mexican people could have a piece of land where to build a roof and a piece of land to sustain themselves. Perhaps Pancho Villa hanged your hacendado abuelo. It is hacendado, not hacendero. If your abuelo was an hacendado it wasn't because of his smarts, but due to politics that gave land to a few. I am a direct descendant of Luis Terrazas of Chihuahua and no one hated Luis Terrazas more than Pancho Villa and there is no person in Mexico dead or alive that I admire more than I do Villa. Yeah, let's learn from the past, but keep the future in mind. For us to gain strength, we need unity. Not someone worrying about height, skin color, color eyes, or even a surname..

my family is from northern mexico and i come from a long line of rich european landowners and their indita mistresses. where does that put me? who cares. i'm mexican and that's it. oh, and i laughed my ass off at the 'ash wednesday' nickname.

Astronaut01, on your reply to Noe your writing showed much more ignorance than your initial comment. How can you say a Revolution is a lie? Oh, I know. You are full of apathy. Had you been alive in the 1900s in Mexico you would have been one of many who just waited to see what happened, but you would have been first in line to get the land that the revolutionaries won with their sweat, their blood and their tears. Pancho Villa fought a revolution so that your grandparents could have a roof over their heads and a piece of land to work so that your parents could have beens and tortillas to eat. Pancho Villa's past of being a thief, a cattle rustler, and a killer has been well publicized as has been the fact that he stole from the rich to give to the poor. No one is claiming that Villa is a saint. As for an agenda? He had the opportunity to ocupy the wide chair at Los Pinos and he refused it saying that he knew how to combat in the battlefield, but didn't know how to run a country. Pancho Villa didn't just tell his Dorados what to do, he led them in every battle. My question to you is, what will you do now that the demise of America is imminent? Will you run for cover under your bed until the "Revolution Cucuy" goes away? After all, you say that a Revolution is a lie. Another question, Who is your hero? George W. Bush perhaps?

This is a typical comment from the elitist, delusional, Eurocentric pendejos that have a tunnel vision view of history. My family is many generations deep from Chihuahua and we are as brown as they come. Hey Pocho Guey you seemed to forget about all the Yaqui and Comanche that your Guero decendents didn't quite rub out. And how did your family come by all these fine haciendas? From the main industry of that area CONTRABANDA! Growing mota and chiva brought millions to all you types and set up your oligarchal realms in el De-efe!. All this Mexico-Lindo revisionism is caca de toro! Northern Mexico is reaping what it's sowed.